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Cases of Police Abuse in France

There are concerns that police harassment of immigrants in France is a routine. Migrants in Calais said that the French police often ambush them using pepper sprays. They also noted that they were living in the cold as most of their shelters had been destroyed by police. The immigrants also complained of inadequate food supplies. This is according to a report that was released by the Human Rights Watch. The report came to light after a number of immigrants and human rights migrants complained about these issues. They also revealed that the immigrants had been subjected to daily identity checks, unsanitary conditions and shortened aid hours. This meant that the immigrants could not access water and toilets.

A senior counsel working for the Human Rights Watch known as Michael Bochenek said that he had never experienced such kind of human abuse where the police sprayed pepper spray on sleeping people including children. These abuses began when the Jungle Camp center was dismantled last year. The camp used to house over 10,000 immigrants from several nations in Africa. It also used to house people from Syrian and Afghanistan. Upon the disarray, the immigrants were transported by buses to other regions in France where harassments have also been reported.

At the moment, Mr. Bochenek reported that there are around 400-500 people living in the camp. These people often travel in large numbers as they seek to cross the English Channel. During this course, some usually jump on the Eurostar train and trucks going to England. Local officials in the area said that the claims that police systematically and gratuitously abuse the immigrants are calumnious meant to taint the French police with a dark image. Officials said that the police in this area was just like their counterparts in other parts of France.

Officials said that police are working in the legal framework to ask for identity checks. This is what happens in other regions in France, and the Calais area should not be treated as special. The police spokesman also said that the police were permitted to stop unauthorized people from boarding the Eurostar train. Police say that they have managed to avert over 17,867 people from boarding the train illegally this year alone. On their part, the police were only aware of three cases concerning the issue of police abuse. Mr. Sudry encourages people who feel that their rights have been infringed to file the issue with the police.